


Take the Long Way Home

by pidgeonpostal



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: M/M, Outdoor Sex, Witcher AU, a poor understanding of witcher potions and magic, but a good understanding of D&D monsters so I'm substituting some of those, dailyr76, obligatory bathhouse episode, witcher husbands
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-10
Updated: 2018-05-03
Packaged: 2019-04-21 01:19:07
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,198
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14273823
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pidgeonpostal/pseuds/pidgeonpostal
Summary: "I fucking hate giant centipedes."The Witcher AU I didn't know I wanted. In which Jack and Gabe roam the countryside and kill monsters and occasionally make poor decisions involving witches. First chapter written for the DailyR76 prompt "Old Dogs, New Tricks."





	1. In Which Gabriel Fails an Investigation Roll to Check for Traps

**Author's Note:**

> 1) I really wanted to get writing again and then failed to write a lot but wanted to post before the contest was over because deadlines are motivating OH JEEZ I'M WRITING AGAIN. But yeah, will extend this but the first chapter was for the contest.  
> 2) I did not come up with this whole cloth, s2476 on Tumblr mentioned it at one point and I just got carried away. Props to them for the amazing au idea. I will eventually cross-post on Tumblr but just getting it up here is daunting.  
> 3) Since I'm writing as I post, there may be edits to previous chapters but I will try very hard to make it nothing substantial.  
> 4) I am also [PidgeonPostal](https://pidgeonpostal.tumblr.com) on Tumblr, come say hi!  
> 

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Witching is a dangerous business. Jack takes a hit. Gabriel gets a present._

"I fucking hate giant centipedes."

Jack dropped his sword and stumbled to the ground, slumping against a slim tree. "You're telling me," he groaned. He could feel the thing's venom in his blood with every heartbeat, a prickling sensation that couldn't decide if it was too hot or too cold. Probably wouldn't kill him. Probably.

There was a gentle thump as Gabriel dropped his sword as well and knelt in front of Jack. Something soft pressed to his neck and left side. "Look at me, Jackie." It dabbed at Jack's eyes until he could see Gabriel holding a cloth to his face.

Gabriel had nice eyes. They hadn't been turned during the Trial of the Grasses like Jack's. That’s why Gabriel always did the talking in town, people were just unnerved by glowing slit-pupils. Hell, Jack still was whenever he caught sight of his reflection. Gabriel's were better, even if he couldn't see well in caves. But those beautiful brown eyes narrowed as Gabriel scowled at him. Jack coughed up something warm. "I'm fine," he managed to wheeze.

“Shh. Hold still.”

Gabriel disappeared and came back with his pack, pulling out more cloth and a few glass vials. He uncorked one and held up to Jack’s lips. He recognized it as White Honey immediately. “Thanks.”

Gabriel hushed him again. “You’re cut up pretty bad, I need you to not move your face. Or your neck.”

Jack’s head was swimming, so he let Gabriel work, wrapping cloth tightly around his neck and up over one eye. Jack scowled at that, but only for a moment until it upset another slash on his face. Hopefully he'd keep the eye. Once Gabriel was done, seemingly satisfied that Jack wasn't going to bleed out, he grabbed both their swords and cleaned and sheathed them before proceeding. Ana would have been proud.

 _Your sword is your life and your livelihood,_ her voice echoed in his memory. _If you aren't dead or dying, no matter how tired, how bruised, how beaten, you take care of your sword before you pass out. Or I will know._

Jack moved to get up and his vision swam so quickly that he nearly toppled over. Gabriel was there to catch him, putting one arm under his shoulders and the other under his knees before lifting him up like he weighed nothing. Jack tried to protest, but with the motion of Gabriel's stride and the blood in his ears he eventually let himself be carried. Gabriel seemed to be heading somewhere.

"Can’t stay out here, more might come back here. Remember the shack on our way in?" Gabriel replied to the question Jack hadn't thought he had voiced. "Looked empty, seems a good place to hole up until it's out of your system. Sleep, Jackie."

The last thing Jack remembered was the broken down shack coming into view ahead of them.

\---

Jack would be fine. The cuts on his face were cosmetic, and the throat damage was bad but not catastrophic. Jack had still talked, albeit in a horrible croak, so it couldn't be that bad.

Jack was going to be _fine._

Gabriel gingerly laid out Jack on the remains of a cot and put a hand to his temple. He was running a fever, unsurprisingly. Witchers could survive a lot, but they weren't invincible, and the centipede venom was going to mess with Jack's healing factor until the White Honey flushed it out. Could take up to a day, Gabriel estimated from experience. At least Jack wasn't bleeding as much anymore. The gashes on his face just _looked_ bad. Gabriel was on his third check of the bandages before he realized he was hovering, and resolved to get something done. Maybe they’d overlooked something in the first pass.

The one-room hovel didn't have much to search, but Gabriel lit a torch and turned it upside down anyway. The moth-eaten blankets were a good find and immediately went over Jack, and once he had scoured the rest, Gabriel gently moved the cot to the opposite wall to check underneath it.

A few sturdy planks of wood rested over a hole in the dirt floor. Gabriel threw them aside and pulled out a wooden box the size of a footstool that practically hummed with how enchanted it was.

It was a pretty familiar hum, too.

Gabriel gingerly pulled the box the rest of the way out, and, with one last look at Jack sleeping on the cot, headed outside.

There was no way it was just _here._ The witch had probably seen them here in a vision, and left it for them to find. And she had never given him anything not worth its weight in gold, but if he remembered Moira at all, the box itself was likely trapped. Better to set it off out here than in there.

He got a good ways from the shack, until he could barely see it through the trees, before setting it down and getting a better look at the box with the torch held up to it. No mundane lock, just a simple silver latch etched in her trademark yellow and purple, with further tracings along the edges. As he watched, they seemed to move in front of his eyes.

_Hello, Gabriel._

And the latch clicked open.

A black cloud burst from the box, roiling like a thunderhead at sea, faster than Gabriel could move, forming tendrils that shot out, seeking something. They wove around his legs almost intimately, over his thighs until they constricted his torso and pulled him to the ground. Gabriel pushed at them, but his hands fell through them, and the smoke simply reformed in place and squeezed. He gasped and suddenly he was choking on it, feeling it coat his throat like oil and pushing further. He couldn't breathe, he couldn't see-

Something chuckled. From the darkness in front of his eyes, a bone white mask sloughed off the shadows. The angular features seemed to bore into him. "Well, well, well. The witch did not lie. A _witcher."_

Damn her. "What did she promise you?" he tried to say, but though he was no longer choking, neither did he breathe, and he only mouthed the words.

It seemed to be enough for the demon to understand. "And _polite._ Yes, she did promise. A new host. She took my old one for study. She promised a new vessel. And she said to tell you something."

The mask drifted closer, until he could have touched it, and it spoke in her voice.

_“It will make you whole, Gabriel. Where the Trial of the Grasses could not.”_

Shapes darted in the smoke around them. He recognized his own silhouette, facing a frightener. It bit his shadow, but the smoke shifted and reformed. Then his shadow leaped back up, swinging his sword at the frightener, dissolving, reappearing behind it and taking its head.

That. Was a lot of power. Gabriel had never been happy with how his body had survived the Trial of the Grasses. He hadn't gotten night vision like Jack had, the rest of his senses were perfectly ordinary as well. All he had was strength and speed, just enough to be a witcher and run with Jack, and even then, Jack was faster, Jack could run in and take a hit for him in a way Gabriel couldn't, and Jack had paid for it. Gabriel hadn't been fast enough today.

But he could be.

"What do you say, witcher?"

They had been taught it was never worth it to strike deals. Reinhardt had been the most adamant, which really had done little more then introduce Gabriel to the possibility. Then Ana had pulled him aside and put the fear in him, told him that, yes, of course it could be done, and at what costs, her one good eye staring him down.

"I accept."

The mask laughed again, fuller this time, echoing through the space. "She knew you would."

It flew at him, the impact on his face like getting punched. He felt the mask shatter and bits of bone pierced his skin, melting into smoke and reaching deeper, but this time when he gasped he could breathe like it was air. His heart slowed, then stopped.

He felt cold.

_Rise, Master Witcher._

And his heart beat again.

He could see the stars above him, the canopy, every leaf and branch. The torch he lit was long extinguished, laying next to him and the open box. He staggered to his knees, more out of vertigo than weakness. He felt _good,_ like he could fight the centipedes again, if the ground would only stop moving.

Instead, in the pitch black night, he looked at the contents of the box and read their labels. Hellebore. Celandine. Honeysuckle. And vial after vial of spirits. More than enough to help Jack along.

He closed the box and headed inside.

\---

"Jackie."

Jack tried to groan and only managed to start coughing. Rough hands gently levered him up to a sitting position. Something cold touched his lips.

"Drink."

Gabriel's voice. He drank. "How-" he croaked, coughing before trying again. "How long was I out?"

"You sound awful."

_"Gabriel."_

"Little more than a day. Not running a fever anymore, you should be through the worst of it."

Jack groaned again and cracked his eyes open. The light made him flinch, but Gabriel's arms held him steady. He got it on the second try, taking in the interior of the shack. The midday sun only accentuated how run down it was, from the broken door and window to the uneven dirt floors. Gabriel’s pack was open and strewn across the floor, half empty vials of reagents littered over a bedroll and some bandages encrusted with old blood.

“How ba-shit.” He really did sound terrible. Like something had torn-

His hand flew up to inspect his neck but Gabriel’s hand was there first and caught his. “Yeah, that’s the worst of it. You really shouldn’t be talking much right now.” He turned to put his pack back together. “Now that you’re up, we can head back. Cash in that bounty for something to drink, maybe a bath. Forgot how bad these things smell.”

Jack tested his weight on his legs. Shaky, but functional. He took one step into Gabriel’s space and hugged him close from behind. Gabriel’s hands grasped his in front.

“Head wounds bleed a lot more,” Gabriel whispered.

“Yeah, they do.”

“Wasn’t sure if you were gonna make it, when I first saw it. Surprised you were able to sass me.”

Jack chuckled. “‘Till the day I die.”

“Not someday soon.” Gabriel’s grip tightened. Jack squeezed back.

“Long way out,” he promised.


	2. In Which Jack Succeeds on a Perception Check, and There Is a Plot Bathhouse

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _There's money to be made in monster parts. Jack is observant. Gabriel bribes a child._

Jack recognized the box immediately. "Gabe, what is that?"

Gabriel froze in his arms.

"Gabe, those are Moira's colors. It has your _name_ on it."

"I found it while you were out cold. Guess she knew we'd be here. She kept her promise."

Jack pulled gently, turning Gabriel to face him, so close he could see the changes, the slight tint to his eyes, the way they focused on him a little faster. "She finished it."

"Yeah."

Jack rocked to one heel and back as his balance faltered. "You're not turned?"

"First thing I tried." Gabriel reached down into his pack for a small round jar, filled with a stale-smelling oil. They hadn't had to hunt a vampire in a long time, but the scent was unmistakable. He uncorked it, dipped his fingers in, and handed it to Jack. "Doesn't hurt, doesn't burn." Gabriel shrugged, turning his hand over for Jack to see. "Not turned yet, at least."

“Show me.”

The hand in front of Jack’s face wavered. Like a candle being extinguished, a tendril of smoke reached up from his index finger, swirling and fading into the air. Then another, and another, until Jack could see Gabriel _through_ his hand. His eyes were more red now than brown, staring right at Jack. And for a moment, Jack remembered a bruxa, vanishing and reforming and smiling with sharp teeth, wet with Gabriel’s blood-

Gabriel’s hand reformed, and Jack let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. “Feels strange.” Gabriel shook his hand as if shaking off water. “I haven’t exactly had a lot of time to practice-”

He let out a grunt as Jack pulled him in close, wrapping Gabriel in his arms and cradling his head on his shoulder. Gabriel felt solid against him, and warm, and _real._ Jack breathed, and felt Gabriel breathe and Gabriel’s heart beat, slower than either should have been but still there. Still Gabriel.

“I’m okay, Jackie.” Gabriel’s chuckle sounded muffled against his shoulder. “Don’t get sappy on me.”

“M’not.”

“Of course.”

\---

Jack was okay to walk at an easy pace, though with half his face bandaged he had a bit of trouble with the underbrush. Gabriel guided him with a hand at his elbow, and they set off to try to reach the village by nightfall.

They walked out of the forest in comfortable silence, to the village they had entered just long enough to check the job board. They still reeked, and everyone turned to look at them when they entered the inn and Gabriel threw the centipede mandibles down on the bar. "Taken care of. You got the gold?"

The bartender eyed them warily, wiping his hands with a dirty cloth. "You them witcher boys again?"

"Old enough to be your father, _boy._ " Gabriel shot back.

"That ain't them boss." A young man came up to the bar to return three glasses. "I saw the others. Only one was a witcher. Sirs," he added, facing Jack and Gabriel.

The bartender held up his hands. "Ain't mean it like that. Here." He went under the bar and pulled out a small coin purse. "As promised."

Gabriel turned and pulled two coins from the purse, watching the young man follow the glint of metal. "A witcher and who else? What did they look like?"

"One tall like yourself, the other short. Carried a lot of gear, like yourself, two swords on the tall fella, a real pretty longbow on the short fella. All blue and silver, like a royal's."

Gabriel nodded. "Any other features?"

"Tall, scruffy, big hat and a short red cloak, yellow eyes like him," he pointed at Jack. "That's how we knew he was a witcher. Hair wasn’t white, though, just brown. The other guy, though, definitely from money. Didn’t talk to any of us, just sat down and let the big fella do all the talking."

“What did he talk about?”

“Not much, just seemed to like to talk,” the young man grinned. “Had some good stories about roaming the land. Says he once took down an entire colony of kikimores with a rigged-up bomb.”

Gabriel snorted. "How long ago were they here?"

"Couple weeks."

Gabriel dropped the coins in his hands. Once he'd scampered off, Gabriel turned to Jack and raised an eyebrow. Jack rolled his good eye. "Yeah, sounds like Jesse."

"Recognize who he's with?"

Jack shook his head. "Doesn’t sound like a witcher. Bodyguard work, maybe. I don’t remember Jesse going in for that, though."

“He doesn’t. Kid won’t take a contract that doesn’t let him slay monsters. I don’t like it.”

“You want to go after him?”

Gabriel shrugged. "Two weeks is a big head start, they're long gone. But I'll ask around. See if we can't find work in the same direction they headed."

Rather than wash in the cold communal tub at the inn, Gabriel led them up the road towards a pristine stone building, smoke and steam rising from multiple chimneys. The spread of bathhouses was one outcome of the Omnic Crisis that Gabriel could more than live with, and any excess coin they made he always insisted spending on a good soak. Jack hadn't liked the expense at first, but he'd caved after the first winter when it was all that could chase the cold from their bones.

"One private bath," Gabriel declared as they walked in the door. The omnic at the front desk looked up at them, a smooth face with four glowing crystals in a square. The voice that emanated from them was calm and welcoming.

"Of course, sir, we have a room ready now, for the next hour.” They stepped out from behind the desk, robes floating behind them. ”Would you like your equipment cleaned as well?"

 _"Yes."_ Jack stepped forward to follow the attendant. "You wouldn't believe how badly this smells."

"With respect, sir, I can guess. You are hunters, yes?"

"Witchers," Jack corrected.

"My apologies. I had only heard of witchers in name, until recently. I did not realize you travelled to such distant villages with such frequency."

"We go where the monsters go," Gabriel replied smoothly, moving up to walk in step with Jack. "The other witchers, they come here?"

The omnic's stride faltered for the briefest of moments. "My apologies again, sirs, but we have a policy not to disclose who visits our establishment."

Gabriel and Jack shared a look.

"Ah, here we are," the omnic announced brightly.

The room itself was small and spotless from what Gabriel could see through the steam, all white and grey stone, one large tub taking up most of the space and the standard spigots on the opposite wall. Small stones reminiscent of the omnic’s crystals emanated a low light near the floor. Jack wasted no time shrugging off his gear into a pile by the door, then got to work on the bandages. His throat still looked cracked and red, and while the cut across his lip looked nearly healed, the gash from above his left eye down to his right cheek was barely scabbed over. Gabriel winced in sympathy as the last layer of bandages stuck, but he could see both of Jack's eyes looking functional and alert, so there was that. Jack tossed the cloth into the pile and stepped into the tub, kicking his feet forward until he could completely submerge.

Gabriel shrugged off his gear and dropped in next to him. He hissed as the water burned his new cuts and scrapes, but it quickly mellowed into a warm pulsing under his skin, and he let himself sink towards the bottom. He floated there for several minutes, until a hand at his shoulder brought him to the surface.

"Gabe?"

"Hm?"

"Didn't know you could hold your breath that long."

Oh. Gabriel hadn't even been thinking of that. It just ...didn't seem important, at the time. "Didn't know that either. New, I guess."

Jack frowned, but didn't press, leaning his head back on the edge of the tub. Gabriel climbed into his personal space, and one of Jack's arms reflexively came up to card through his hair. "So," Jack sighed. "Jesse was here. Think he paid them off to keep it a secret?"

"Don't see how visiting an omnic bathhouse could hurt his reputation any more."

"Could be his new friend. Some noble’s kid being shuffled around."

“Could be,” Gabriel groaned. "Leave it to Jesse to somehow end up in _politics._ What the hell does he think he’s doing?"

“We’ll find out.” Jack’s fingers wrapped themselves in his hair. “Start with asking the omnic here.” But when he made to stand up, Gabriel took his hands and held firm.

“Jesse can handle himself, I paid for this bath and I’m damn well going to enjoy it.”

Jack chuckled. "What did you have in mind? My face is barely holding together as it is."

Gabriel sat up and rolled to the side. "You're still healing, nothing fancy," he hummed, and leaned in for a quick kiss, careful to avoid the new scars. “Scoot forward.” He moved around until Jack was neatly in his lap, and started kneading Jack’s shoulders. Jack hummed and let his head fall back, his eyes closed and a small smile on his lips.

“Good?” Gabriel smiled.

“Yeah- _hn,_ ” Jack cut off with a moan as Gabriel pressed his thumbs under Jack’s shoulder blades, working through the knots in his muscles. Jack’s voice still sounded rougher than it used to, but it was still _Jack,_ and Gabriel kept pressing into that spot just to hear it again.

He eventually worked lower, down Jack’s spine and into the dimples above his ass, squeezing his sides. He traced along Jack’s hip bones, over old scars and the light hair from his navel down to his cock. Jack pushed back into him, and his golden eyes opened to look at Gabriel, glowing faintly in the low light. He smiled, and leaned in to lick a stripe up Gabriel’s neck, nipping at his jawbone.

They moved together, slowly, Gabriel's hand on Jack's cock and Jack grinding back against him. Gabriel could feel Jack’s heartbeat speed up, and when he reached up to grab one of his pecs Jack arched into the touch and gasped.

Jack went almost rigid when he came, shuddering forward into Gabriel’s hands before going boneless against his chest. His skin was gorgeous, haphazardly flushed down to his elbows and ribcage, and Gabriel took a solid minute just to marvel at it. He traced the edges of reddened skin down Jack’s flank, earning him a groan and a half-hearted slap. “Too much,” Jack mumbled, taking Gabriel’s hand in his and rubbing small circles over his knuckles. “Give me a minute and you’ll get yours.”

“We’ve got a shakedown, remember? You’re overheating, anyway. C’mon, up.” Jack’s skin was uncomfortably warm as Gabriel shimmied out of the tub, and as he pulled away he flicked one of Jack’s nipples. Jack slapped his ass in retaliation and followed him out. The soap near the wall spigot smelled strongly of yarrow and chamomile, and helped immensely to remove the stench of the previous fight. By the time the omnic from the front desk returned, Gabriel actually felt clean again.

"My apologies, sirs, but this piece seems to have sustained some more serious damage." They held up Jack’s chainmail-and-leather shirt, pristine, but with two parallel scratches that had damaged the metal links and shredded the leather entirely. “I could recommend a smith, but they are perhaps too far south for your convenience.”

“No need, I know a guy,” Jack sighed. "Well, at least it doesn’t stink anymore."

"Of course, sir. If I may, what caused such damage to a piece this fine?"

"Giant centipedes," Gabriel grumbled, shoving his gear on with a grimace. "Nasty fuckers."

"Oh. Oh dear." The omnic turned to Gabriel. "I had heard of such things this far north, but only as exaggerated tales. I am thankful for your intervention."

"They don't eat omnics, but you’re welcome. Never did catch your name, by the way."

“Petya,” the omnic bowed. “And it is more than my own body at stake. Had they reached the village, many good people might have fallen. We owe you a debt.”

“Right. Petya.” Gabriel tied and belted his cuirass on with practiced ease. “I know you’re new to witchers, but we’re not much celebrated. We come in, we kill, we get paid, we get the hell out.” He strapped his swords to his back next, rolled his shoulders with the familiar weight. “But we take care of our own. And one of those boys who came in here, he was one of ours.”

The omnic face revealed nothing, but Gabriel saw the four crystals flicker once. “I am sorry, sir, but we do not discuss visitors-”

“His name’s Jesse,” Jack said calmly, picking up where Gabriel left off. Petya’s crystals flickered again, but regained their composure enough to turn to face Jack with poise. “Good man,” Jack continued. “Young. Poor choice of dress. Gets himself in trouble, sometimes. And from what we’ve heard, travelling with an archer. One we think might not be too good for him.”

“S-sirs-”

“A name and a direction, Petya.” Gabriel shifted his stance, letting the metal on his gear clink together. Petya’s head snapped toward the noise. “And we go. Never see any of us again.”

Petya stood perfectly still, gaze focused somewhere behind Gabriel’s left shoulder. If Gabriel had not been looking and listening for the hum of magic that powered them, he might have thought Petya was only a statue. “The village warned me that witchers would bring nothing but misfortune.” Their voice was quiet. “I did not listen. But you are good men. And the man your friend travels with is not.”

Gabriel’s heart stopped beating. “Who is he?”

“A scion. The last of the Shimadas.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Y'all I don't know what I'm doing. Promise, I want this to focus on Jack and Gabe, just the way it's gonna focus is to help the ducklings.
> 
> The bathhouse is only mostly plot, it's also for bumping this fic's rating way up because that's another challenge I have set for myself as a Thing I Wish to Do.


	3. In Which Gabriel Fails His First Saving Throw

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Names carry weight. Gabriel gets angry. Jack carries Gabriel._

“Son of a _bitch!”_ Gabriel tore out of the room. The front door of the bathhouse was closed but Gabriel didn’t care, didn’t have _time_ anymore and shifted _through_ it into the clear night air, out over the ground as fast as he could. He needed to get to - where had Petya said? Had Petya even told them?

“Gabe!”

Jack would know. Gabriel turned to demand it of him, and stopped dead at Jack’s expression. Jack was winded, but that didn’t make any sense, Gabriel was the one who couldn’t keep up sometimes. And Jack was _afraid._ His eyes were wide, staring at Gabriel in a way he remembered from their brushes with death, when he thought one of their hunts had finally done him in.

“We’re going.” Was that his voice? He sounded almost as bad as Jack.

“Gabe-”

Gabriel moved forward and the slight twitch that Jack made to move away infuriated him even more. “Scared, _Jackie?_ Of what it could do to you? Think of what it’ll do to Jesse, if it hasn’t already. Give me one good reason not to go after them. Because if you think I’m leaving Jesse to some fucking _dragonchild-”_

“Of course we’re not leaving him.” Jack seemed to have steeled himself. His feet were firm on the ground this time when Gabriel leaned closer.

“Then let’s _get going._ ” Gabriel turned to keep walking, Jack or no Jack.

“First, wiggle your toes for me.”

Gabriel stopped mid-turn to stare at Jack. “Jack, what the fuck, we don’t have time for-” He looked down, and froze.

Thick black smoke fell endlessly from his torso, swirling as it hit the ground below before dissipating. He couldn’t see his own legs. Did he still have legs? He couldn’t feel anything, trying to reform just made the smoke shift and spread out. It looked like it was trying to grab something solid and, finding purchase on Jack’s legs, pitched Gabriel forward into Jack’s arms.

Jack didn’t say anything, just held him closer until his grip threatened to crack Gabriel’s ribs. It hurt, a little, but it didn’t matter, he barely needed to breathe anymore, right? And it made Jack feel more solid against him, more real, as he tried to remember what the hell it felt like to have legs.

“Fucking great,” he mumbled into Jack’s shoulder. The shoulder gave a half-assed shrug. “Give me a minute- I said a minute!” Jack had started walking, the smoke - his smoke? - trailing behind them.

“You discorportated through a door, in front of villagers, who saw which direction we ran,” Jack reported. “So we’re leaving.”

“Not without my other half!”

He could _hear_ Jack’s smirk. “I'm right here,” Jack said.

Gabriel thumped his back hard enough to get a grunt out of him. “You know what I mean, we can’t just leave it there!”

Jack turned his head a little, his scruff catching against Gabriel’s face. “The smoke?”

“Of course the-” The smoke, he realized, had already faded into the night. “Right. I’ll work on the leg thing.”

“You already did it once with your top half to get through the door,” Jack pointed out. “Just do that again.”

Gabriel headbutted him. He then swung one arm more securely around Jack’s neck, and brought his other arm down to fiddle with the smoke at his hips. His hand went through it, to a point, and the resistance he met was amorphous at best, but he could feel himself poking around. Something in there still remembered it was a part of him.

So Gabriel let his mind drift. He ran through the footwork for their sword drills, drumming the rhythm against Jack’s back. He thought about how it felt to land them, to pivot on the balls of his feet and take the force of the hit without collapsing, knees bent and ready to retaliate.

“You’re getting heavier,” Jack grunted after a few minutes.

Gabriel chuckled and kicked at him with newly-solidified thighs. “Golden boy tired already?”

“Little old for that nickname now. And a little grey.”

“It was ‘cause of your eyes, not your hair, Jackie.” He fluffed Jack’s hair with one hand. “Alright, put me down, I think I’ve got the rest.”

Gabriel had never been so happy to hear his boots crunch on fallen leaves. The world was still spinning a bit, like when he had first opened the box, but it was manageable. “So where are we headed?”

“You left before Petya could tell you.”

“But you know.”

Jack just smirked and shouldered past him. “They were headed for the coast. One of the port cities, Petya didn’t know which.”

“Great.” Gabriel rolled his eyes and took a few quick steps to fall in at Jacks’ side. He was fairly certain they were only walking for his benefit, but Jack matched his pace, occasionally bumping their shoulders, clearly on purpose. Darkness hadn’t bothered Jack in a long time, he could see perfectly well where Gabriel was. Come to think of it, darkness didn’t bother Gabriel now, either. “Hey, do my eyes glow like yours now?”

“Hm?” Jack stared deep into his eyes, and even after decades together the full force of Jack’s gaze made Gabriel shiver just a little. “It’s noticeable. You have a bit of red in them now. How far out can you see?”

Gabriel looked ahead of them, over the rolling hills between them and the coast. “The tree on the second hill is still pretty clear.”

“Not bad.” Jack cleared his throat and rubbed at it gingerly. “Still not used to how I sound. Doesn’t seem like it’s getting better.”

Gabriel tried to shrug casually. “Maybe it won’t. Suits you better, anyway. Goes with the whole ‘menacing witcher’ look.”

“Good to hear, given that’s the only look I have anymore,” Jack said, perfectly flat.

Gabriel snorted, and broke into laughter. “No, no!” He waved a hand at Jack when he scowled at him. “Not that, just. It was a good joke. Your new voice is doing wonders for your deadpan.”

Jack still scowled, but the corner of his mouth twitched. “Glad I could entertain you.”

“Come on, I know what will make you feel better.” Gabriel slapped Jack on the back and broke into a jog. “Race you to the tree!”

Jack shook his head, but as Gabriel turned to look forward he heard footsteps picking up behind him. Soon enough, Jack had passed him, long loping strides eating up the ground in front of him, and he began to curve into a large clockwise circle centered around Gabriel. Still jogging slowly, Gabriel waited until Jack was directly behind him, and then broke into a run.

It was a game they knew well, born of an off-hand comment that Jack could likely run circles around any other northern witcher. He had raced everyone they had trained with and won handily each time, so it had been a novel way to give him a challenge.

Jack came around for another lap, cutting his circle short to pass by Gabriel’s back and tap his shoulder, smirking. “Still got it,” he whispered, right in Gabriel’s ear, before his momentum carried him off again.

“Cocky bastard!” Gabriel shouted after him, laughing when Jack flipped him off.

They were maybe halfway to the tree when Gabriel felt more than saw the smoke begin to rise off his body. He felt lighter, like his feet touched the ground less and less. It didn’t feel like the mind fog earlier that night, either. He felt sharp and fully aware. He leaned into that feeling, felt the smoke rise from his feet until he couldn’t see them or feel them hit the ground. The wind picked up in his ears as he turned to intersect Jack.

Jack saw him coming, and course corrected to keep ahead. His circle tightened, passing mere strides ahead of Gabriel. For a moment, golden predator eyes watched him, calculating.

Then Gabriel pushed _into_ the smoke, and shot past Jack in a tunnel of black.

The smoke was obscuring his peripheral vision, but he could hear Jack stumble to a stop before turning and accelerating straight towards him. Gabriel grinned. Even when Jack passed him once again, he was still smiling, because Jack had stopped running circles. Jack was still faster, of course, Gabriel thought as he watched Jack reach the tree.

But only just.

Jack tapped the tree with his knuckles before slowing and turning his head back to find Gabriel. Gabriel didn’t slow at all, and instead reformed and launched himself at Jack, who saw what was happening just in time to get his arms up for the catch. Gabriel heard a satisfying grunt as the impact knocked the wind from Jack, and they fell to the ground together. Gabriel rolled so he sat on a stunned Jack, smiling down at him until he seemed to recover.

Jack tried to look disapproving for all of half a second before bursting into laughter. “Asshole!” He slapped Gabriel’s side and held, pinching him through the thick leather.

“Couldn’t help it,” Gabriel grinned. “Gotta make sure you don’t get too complacent being better than the rest of us.”

Jack rolled his eyes, but the crow’s feet around them were still creased and his smile was still bright. “You gonna get off me now?”

Gabriel looked down and made a show of weighing his options. “Nah, I like it here. Do you want me off?”

“No, but your swords are dangerously close to my dick.”

Gabriel chuckled, but obligingly removed his pack and weapons, then leaned down to help Jack out of his. Jack caught his medallion as he tried to sit up. Pulling Gabriel down, he tilted his head up and gave him a light kiss.

“We’re far enough out.” Jack was still tugging on the medallion, just enough to feel. “Let’s stop here for the night.”

“And have sex?” Gabriel asked hopefully.

Jack rolled his hips. “I think you know the answer to that.”

“Yeah, but I like to hear it, feeds my ego. Things like, 'Gabriel, you charismatic stallion, take me now.’ 'Gabriel, light of my life, make love to me on this grassy knoll under the stars-’”

“Come up with a third and I’m going to sleep.”

“Alright, then.” He leaned down to kiss Jack again as they worked through the familiar buckles on their armor. Jack was smiling against his lips.

Once he pulled the cuirass over Jack’s head he leaned in to kiss and nip at his chest, trailing down over the same scars in a route he had long since committed to memory as his favorite way to get Jack to arch into his touch. With a loud moan and another roll of his hips Jack lifted them both off the ground a few inches and pressed up into Gabriel. Gabriel heard the last few buckles of his own armor come free and sat up to tug it off. The moment he tossed it aside he felt Jack do a sit up underneath him and suddenly he was on his back, Jack undoing his pants and pulling them off in a few bursts of motion. There was a hunger in his eyes that sent a shiver up Gabriel’s spine.

“Would be easier if you didn’t insist on wearing them so damn tight,” Jack muttered when he finally pulled the pants from Gabriel’s ankles. His fingers slid down to dig into the meat of Gabriel’s thighs with measured strength.

“But then you wouldn’t get such a good view of my ass.” Gabriel wiggled in Jack’s grasp for good measure, throwing his head back with a gasp when it just made Jack tighten his grip.

Jack snorted and shook his head before leaning in to lick down Gabriel’s thighs and up over his cock. Gabriel tried to thrust up when Jack sucked at the tip but Jack had already flipped his grip on Gabriel’s thighs to pin him down, the pressure increasing again to something almost bruising, and Gabriel moaned as Jack’s thumbs began to press even more in slow, teasing circles.

Gabriel reflexively reached for Jack’s hair as Jack took more of his cock in his mouth. “Fuck!” He bucked up into Jack’s mouth, but heard Jack moan with a hint of pain and immediately slid out and let Jack come up for air. Jack winced and brought a hand to his face; the lower half of the larger scar had torn open. “Shit.” Gabriel scrambled to their packs and pulled out a piece of gauze from their kit and held it out, pressing it to Jack’s face himself when Jack tried to wave him off.

“It doesn’t hurt, I’m fine.”

“Nope, you’re off sucking dick until that heals,” Gabriel declared, and then snorted at his own wording. “Bet Angela never had to say that.”

“I’d take that bet.”

“Ten crowns next time we see her.”

“Done.” Jack pressed his hand against Gabriel’s and offered an apologetic half-smile. “Kinda killed the mood.”

“Like I haven’t seen blood before.” Gabriel reached back into the pack and retrieved a small potion bottle filled with clear viscous fluid, dropping it in Jack’s other hand. “It’ll stop in a minute, and you can make it up to me.”

Jack’s smile reached his eyes as he popped the cork on the bottle. “I’ve got a free hand right now,” he said, dipping his fingers in. He leaned over Gabriel again to lower them both to the grass. Slick fingers slid over Gabriel’s balls and down to press gently inside.

Like everything he did, Jack was thorough in working Gabriel open, going back to the bottle for more lube and moving slow enough that Gabriel started to shift underneath him to try and get more pressure. “Come on, Jackie, sometime tonight would be nice.”

Jack didn’t take his eyes off his own fingers buried in Gabriel’s ass. His pace stayed infuriatingly consistent, even when he put down the gauze and let that hand trail up Gabriel’s side. “It’s been a while since I did this, maybe I want to savor it.” His tone was joking, but Gabriel knew he was sincere, and a rush of affection rose in his chest.

Still. “I _will_ flip us and do it myself if you don’t.” Gabriel punctuated his warning by wrapping his legs around Jack’s back and pulling him forward. More than anything in that moment Gabriel wanted _more,_ more pressure, more _Jack._

Jack sucked in a breath, his fingers stopped for a fraction of a second, and when he spoke again it was with renewed heat, low and rough. “Not much of an incentive to speed up.”

Gabriel smirked and made good on his promise, squeezing Jack between his thighs and rolling them over. It wasn’t a great position to maneuver from and he knew if Jack had wanted to, he could have pinned him, stopped him from doing it, which made the rush of desire even stronger when Jack just let himself be manhandled until he was lying face up on the grass underneath Gabriel, eyes wide and locked on him. Gabriel suddenly had the urge to see those eyes roll back in his head when Jack came.

Jack’s pants were admittedly a lot easier to undo and slide down just to his knees - Jack could sort out the rest if he wanted to, as far as Gabriel was concerned that was good enough for all practical purposes. He dipped his fingers into the bottle of lube and dragged his fist over Jack’s cock a few times before moving up to position himself, grabbing handfuls of Jack’s pecs as he did.

Jack’s hands settled on his hips as Gabriel lowered himself onto Jack’s cock, shifting in the grass to get the angle just right. It didn’t burn, Jack had made sure of that, but the stretch forced Gabriel to start slow, rocking up and down within just the range of flexing his hips as Jack worked him open. Underneath him, Jack still hadn’t looked away, but the cords in his neck were straining with the effort of keeping still. His grip on Gabriel’s hips was near painful again, sharp in a way that grounded Gabriel in the moment as he took Jack’s cock completely inside himself.

The moment their hips were flush against one another, Jack started to move in slow, deep thrusts that began to satisfy the need building in Gabriel’s gut. Gabriel let out pleased noises of encouragement and bounced in time with the motion until Jack finally, _finally_ worked up to a brutal pace that had Gabriel cry out with every snap of Jack’s hips, leaning forward on Jack’s chest for support. All the while, Jack’s eyes were locked on him, watching the pleasure play out on his face.

Gabriel let out a breath with a hint of laughter. “Like what you see, Jackie?” He couldn’t get enough of Jack like this, of how he looked laid out beneath him, of how he looked while looking at Gabriel like he had never wanted anything more in his life. It was intoxicating, knowing that he was the one who could cause it in Jack.

Jack just nodded, and one hand slid across Gabriel’s skin to work his cock. Gabriel groaned and nearly pitched forward.

“Fuck, Jack, too soon-”

Jack slowed down as he responded in bits and pieces. “Want to. Feel you. Fuck you through the afterglow-”

“ _Fuck,_ okay, yeah, just, there-” Gabriel moaned as he came, and fell forward onto Jack’s chest in his own mess, muscles twitching, but Jack was relentless, moving his hands back to Gabriel’s hips and increasing his pace. Sensory overload just shy of pain gave way to pleasure again, but lazier and smoother as Gabriel’s moans became soft, contented noises. “Take what you need, Jackie,” Gabriel whispered in his ear, moving his hands to pinch at Jack’s nipples. “S’good.” He watched with satisfaction as Jack's eyes rolled back before he shut them.

Jack _growled_ as he came, a guttural noise that rumbled in his chest. Gabriel listened to his heartbeat and his breath, cheek against his heated skin.

“Should probably clean up,” Jack mumbled. Gabriel made a noncommittal noise. “We can’t sleep like this, you know.”

“It’s not that bad.”

“It reeks. And it sticks.”

“Fine.” Gabriel lifted himself gently off of Jack and fumbled in his pack for something cleanish to wipe them both down with. “For your delicate sensibilities.”

Jack’s hand flopped onto his head, tangling in his hair and scratching lightly. “I appreciate it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaaaaah it's finally here, I fought with writing sex for literal weeks. Also, with wanting to handle this angsty thing without being angsty forever. I want more supportive Jack, dammit, and they deal with monsters for a living is how I'm justifying it. Not that Jack is 100% on board, we'll get to him. It's just easier for some reason to write from Gabe POV.
> 
> Oh also the chapters are not going to be evenly sized _at all,_ I outlined this by writing chapter titles so I know there will be fifteen chapters, but that's kind of it.


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